Carbondale fly shop nets author

CARBONDALE — Bruce Ducker suspects there’s a connection between flyfishing and writing — he’s just not sure what it is.

Nonetheless, like many anglers who’ve been drawn to the pen, or perhaps writers who are drawn to the rod, the avid angler with a part-time residence near Carbondale has added his own contribution to a booming literary genre devoted to flyfishing.

Ducker’s “Home Pool — Stories of Fly Fishing and Lesser Passions” offers 16 tales about the pastime, more or less. Some of the stories are rooted in fishing, while at least one barely makes reference to angling.

“I don’t write the classic fishing story,” said Ducker, who will make an appearance and sign copies of the book Friday at Crystal Fly Shop in Carbondale.

Rather, his stories are mostly about human relationships, but for one short, but very tall tale — “I Can Prove lt.”

While Ducker admits there’s a bit of himself in each character, the stories are pure fiction, he said.

“I think the size of the fish are certainly fictional. I don’t think I’ve caught a fish that would dam up a stream,” he said, in reference to “I Can Prove It.”

Ducker’s fishing stories have appeared in sporting publications, but he calls most of his work — unrelated to angling — “serious, somber pieces” that appear in various literary journals. He has also authored eight novels, including “Dizzying Heights,” a comic novel set in Aspen, where he previously owned a home.

His fishing stories, Ducker said during a telephone interview from his Denver law office, tend to be light-hearted. The process of writing them — and, he hopes, reading them — is revitalizing, much like flyfishing.

“You watch this little piece of fluff come down the stream — you get some serenity from it,” he said.

Bruce Ducker will sign copies of his book Friday, from 6 to 8 p.m., at Crystal Fly Shop, 208 Main St., Carbondale.

janet@aspentimes.com